As the sun set over the historic canaves of St. Joseph of Selene Restaurant in Santorini, the end of the third edition of the 50 Great Greek Wines (50 GGW) competition brought a sense of accomplishment for another successful wine list. With a record-breaking 201 wineries from Greece and Cyprus and 609 wines participating, this year’s event continued to establish itself as a prestigious showcase of the best Greek wine has to offer.
50 GGW assembles a prestigious judging panel annually, and this year was no different. Our esteemed judges included Julia Harding MW (Senior Editor and Writer at JancisRobinson.com), Μark Andrew MW (co-founder of Noble Rot Magazine & Restaurants), Lenka Sedlackova MW (Senior Brand Manager at Bancroft), Wojciech Bońkowski MW (Wine Writer), Caro Maurer MW (Journalist and Wine Educator), Demetri Walters MW (Wine Consultant), and Christophe Heynen MW (Serial Entrepreneur in the Wine Industry)
The judges’ impressions of this year’s competition were filled with positivity and optimism, as they shared their thoughts about the 50 GGW and the wines they tasted.
“True to its name, 50 Great Greek Wines, serves to shine a light on all that’s best in Greek wine. This year, the 2023 edition, was no exception, and revealed a great many surprises. Yiannis Karakasis MW and his very capable crew continued showcasing some of the most soulful wines on the market today. Moreover the competition witnessed an even greater excitement surrounding this year’s entries. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed tasting a potentially wearying number of wines as I did on the final day’s adjudication. Some of the entries were seriously world-beating, and it was an absolute joy to assess them. This ancient story gets better in the retelling each year.” – Demetri Walters MW
“This was a great opportunity to taste so many diverse wines from all over Greece, and encouraging to find good quality in many different styles. I was especially pleased to taste not only the classics but also wines that were breaking away from the mainstream and doing so successfully.” – Julia Harding MW
“This was my first year participating and I thought that the whole process was great, great tasting, great event. I think everything was really well organized from beginning to end. I like the way that you’re able to taste no quietness, to wine. The rating system is very interesting and the exchange between the judges is really good. We had a lot of common ground with many wines that we found and overall, I have to say this is one of the best shows that I’ve experienced and I experienced many shows around the world. I was very excited to taste all these wines, several hundreds of them from whites to sweets to reds.. From Greece and Cyprus. So really, really well. “ – Christophe Heynen MW Results will be announced during the Awards Ceremony at Grand Resort Lagonissi on October 20.
